Cozy
mysteries can be such fun, and this one especially looked so by the
blurb and cover – a maid and other household help assist an investigator
without his knowledge to solve crimes. It’s set in Victorian times with
afternoon teas, proper society regulations on etiquette, and the
infamous Scotland Yard. When looking at this series, I’m surprised to
find there is over thirty books in it. Wow. I plan to get more of the
series but not sure I’ll ever be able to get and read all of them.

The
book starts out as suggested: cute, quirky, and intriguing. Immediately
I liked Mrs. Jeffries. She’s sweet, clever, supportive. I didn’t know
the other help had such a large role in solving the crimes, but
delightfully they do, all bringing their individual traits to the table.
The detective is subpar with his investigative technique and
confidence, previously having been in the filing room for the majority
of his career, but this only brings more charm to the story. The guilty
party at the end doesn’t stand out much in personality; I wouldn’t have
guessed them to be the killer, and motivation came toward the end
anyway.

Ultimately it wasn’t a mystery easy to guess, the clues
were leading on many paths and pointing fingers everywhere. Plenty of
red herrings helped cloak the genuine culprit. The road to solving it
wasn’t paved with anything obvious. Sometimes it’s cheating not to give
enough clues for the reader to really guess, and sometimes it’s
overwhelming to have so many suspects in the pot and little of them
explored, but the point of this story seems to be the path to
investigating and the enjoyment of observing the process with the cast
and crew, not the ultimate outcome itself.

Emily Brightwell
pleased me by keeping action consistent, injecting cuteness when it’s
needed while holding true to the British type of mystery novel it’s
intended to be. Overall this one was fun to read, light in tone and mood
and outcome, being an enjoyable cute, cozy mystery that’s easy to pick
up and keep reading. It doesn’t leave a lasting impression on the heart
as something you can’t live without, however, so I do hope the next
books in the series bring more individual stake for the detective and
other main players. More excitement would flourish that way.